


The League Job

by MiriRainbowitz



Series: The League Job [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Leverage
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-14
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-14 15:13:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 16,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4569267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiriRainbowitz/pseuds/MiriRainbowitz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ra's nearly kills Thea, Felicity calls on a friend for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is set during eps 20-23 of Season 3 of Arrow, and almost 3 years after the Leverage series finale, and as such might contain spoilers for people who haven't gotten that far in either show.

"He won. There is no plan," Oliver said, and Felicity choked back tears at the hopelessness in his voice. Oliver turned back towards them and started walking down the hall. "Stay with Thea," he said. 

Once he was out of sight, Felicity pulled out her phone and dialed a number. The phone rang twice before it was picked up. 

"What's up, Felicity?" came Hardison’s voice. 

"You still... help people, right?" Felicity asked. 

"Yeah, but it's just me and Parker and Eliot now," he replied. "Nate and Sophie are off in... Europe, last I checked."

"I- we need your help," Felicity said. "How soon can you be here?"


	2. Chapter 1

Hardison stared at the phone for a few seconds after Felicity hung up. He knew Parker and Eliot could read the concern on his face, but didn’t say anything.

“So who was that?” Parker asked.

“Felicity Smoak. She’s another hacker,” Hardison replied. When Parker started to frown, he hurried to add, “Not- nothing like Chaos. She’s like us- she helps take down bad guys, and- she needs our help.” He turned to Eliot. “She mentioned the League of Assassins, which sounds-”

“Dammit, Hardison, you couldn’t have opened with that first?” Eliot demanded. “What did they do?”

“They’re apparently blackmailing someone named Oliver into joining by almost killing his sister,” Hardison replied, and watched Eliot's expression turn disgusted. 

"They _would_ ," he growled. "Get your stuff- we're going _now_. I'll drive."

Ten minutes later, they were all packed into Lucille, heading for Starling City. Eliot was glowering silently, and Parker was in the back, watching the computers and luggage. 

"So... the League of Assassins," Hardison said. "Sounds like something you'd find in a comic book."

"It's not," Eliot replied. "It's _exactly_ what it sounds like. I've- _interacted_ with them in the past, and for the most part, they're a bunch of amateurs, but they can be really persistent. It's best not to draw their attention."

"So what are we gonna do?" Hardison asked. 

"I don't know yet," Eliot replied. "We'll see what the situation is when we get to Starling City."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If people want to know, Portland is about 174 miles away from Seattle (which seems to be where Starling City is located), so it'll take them like 3-4 hours to get there.


	3. Chapter 2

Oliver was almost finished packing when he heard the door open, and saw Felicity and Digg walk in. 

“Oliver, what’s- are you leaving?” Felicity asked, her a note of panic entering her voice, and Oliver’s heart twinged. He didn’t want to do this, but it was the only way to save Thea.

“Yes,” he gritted out. “And _please_ , don’t ask me to stay. I have to do this- it’s for Thea.”

“Thea can wait,” Felicity said shortly, then shook her head. “That was not supposed to come out like that, but Oliver, Thea can afford to wait. She’s stable, she’s not gonna wake up, and she’ll be fine if we delay for another few hours.”

“And _why_ are we delaying for a few hours?” Oliver asked. 

“Because help is coming,” Felicity replied. 

“Felicity, at this point, the only person who could _possibly_ help is Malcolm Merlyn,” Oliver said angrily. “And I don’t think anyone here would be happy to ask him.”

Felicity didn’t even flinch, but walked forward and grasped his arm. “I called some people who can help,” she replied calmly. “And before you say something like ‘I don’t trust them’, do you trust me?” When Oliver nodded, Felicity continued, “I trust them. And I didn’t tell them about your nightly activities, not that those are much of a secret now. But, the point is, we can wait a few more hours- _Thea_ can wait a few more hours.”

“We’re not just a team, Oliver,” Digg said. “We’re a family- _all_ of us. We care about Thea, and we care about you too. We’re not gonna let you do this alone.”

“Thank you,” Oliver said, pouring every ounce of gratitude and love he had into those two words.


	4. Chapter 3

Eliot might have driven a little- well, a lot- over the speed limit for most of the drive, but the end result was that they were approaching Starling City in less than three hours. “Hardison, call your friend and ask where I’m supposed to go,” he said as soon as he saw the city’s lights. 

A few seconds later, Hardison was talking into the phone. “We’re here,” was the first thing he said. “Eliot wants to know where to go.”

There was a pause, then Hardison continued, “Okay, okay- hold up, say that again.” As he was talking, he pulled up the navigation system and started typing in an address. “Okay, we’ll be there in- looks like 15 minutes,” he said. “ _Penthouse_? That’s- okay. Okay, see you soon.”

True to his word, Eliot pulled into a parking garage about 15 minutes later, then woke up Parker while Hardison grabbed his bags. Parker decided to scale the building and hurried away, while Eliot and Hardison exchanged a look, then went to the elevator.

The elevator opened on the top floor, across from an open door. Eliot could see three people in the room beyond- a white male and female sitting on a couch, and a black male standing with his back to the window that Parker was currently opening. Eliot spared a second to wonder how on earth she’d managed to climb the building so fast, then dismissed it- they had more important things to worry about.

“Felicity,” Hardison called, and the white female looked up at him and Hardison, an expression of relief crossing her face. “That was fast,” she said as she got up. The two men turned to look at him and Hardison.

“I figured if the League was involved, observing the speed limit wasn’t really important,” Eliot replied. 

“This is Eliot Spencer,” Hardison pointed to Eliot, then to where Parker was opening the window.“And she’s Parker.”

The three people in the apartment looked startled to see Parker, who only waved cheerfully. “Beat you two,” she said with a grin. “Oooh, nice ceilings.”

“Babe, you should probably ask permission before you start climbing around the apartment,” Hardison said. “And you guys are…”

“Right! I’m Felicity. Smoak,” she said, then pointed to the black man. “This is Digg, and this is Oliver. If you didn’t know that already.”

“Felicity says that you can help,” Oliver said, and Eliot could hear a bunch of emotions- pain, sadness, and just a little bit of hope- in his voice.

“We can,” Eliot said, trying to sound reassuring. “I know how the League works, which will help take them down.”

“And how exactly do you know how the League works?” Digg asked. “Because the only other person we know who knows the League used to be a member, and he’s not exactly a good guy."

“I- had a few run-ins with them a while ago. It got to the point where they stopped trying to kill me and started trying to recruit me. I might have considered it, but they needed _massive_ technique improvements, and this was after we took down Moreau, so I couldn’t abandon you two and Nate and Sophie. The point is, I’ve observed the League and learned as much about it as I could then, so I have a pretty reasonable amount of knowledge about them.”

“You want to take them down- that’s great. An organization that tries to kill innocent people as blackmail is exactly the kind of thing we help take down.” Eliot looked around the room- everyone seemed a bit shocked by his speech. “So, let’s get started.”


	5. Chapter 4

Oliver watched as the three strangers started setting up a bunch of computers in the loft, and felt a surge of gratitude towards Felicity. If she hadn’t called these people, he probably would have turned to Malcolm Merlyn for help, and probably embarked on a plan that would only estrange him from the people he cared about. To be fair, up until now, Malcolm was the only person he knew who knew anything about the League.

The elevator dinged, and everyone turned to look as Malcolm stepped out of it. Oliver watched as he looked around the room, and saw a brief flash of panic before Eliot Spencer started to attack him.

It was easy to see why the League had tried to recruit Eliot. He was fast, almost inhumanly so, and _very_ skilled- he was able to block pretty much all of Malcolm’s hits, while still managing to get in more than three times that number of his own. The fight, which was heavily one-sided, was over in less than a minute, with Eliot holding Malcolm in a headlock.

“Hey, Eliot. Eliot!” Hardison exclaimed, and Eliot blinked, the rage clouding his face starting to disappear. “You _trying_ to kill him?”

“A little bit,” Eliot growled, before dumping Malcolm onto the floor, leaving him gasping for breath. “I’ve told you about Malcolm Merlyn, right?” As comprehension spread across Parker’s and Hardison’s face, Eliot continued, “That’s him.”

“What is _he_ doing here?” Malcolm rasped as he pointed to Eliot.

“I asked him to come,” Felicity replied. “He and Parker and Hardison are helping us come up with a plan to take down Ra’s.” She paused, then turned to Eliot. “I guess I don’t need to introduce you two.”

“We’ve met before,” Eliot said shortly, in a tone that implied that the meeting had not been friendly. 

“Okay, Eliot, if you’re done beating him up, I need to grill you for info, because the League of Assassins doesn’t exactly have a large online presence,” Hardison said, and Eliot cast a glare at Malcolm before walking back over to Hardison.


	6. Chapter 5

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Felicity said. “I mean, we’re walking _right into_ the lion’s den, and if Parker gets caught...”

“We _know_ that, Felicity,” Parker replied from where she was hanging from the ceiling. “But Eliot’s right- at this point, we don’t have enough information to actually take down the League, and you guys will provide enough of a distraction for me to slip in and place the bugs.” She quickly lowered herself down and landed next to Eliot. “I would feel better if you could come with me.”

“I told you, Parker, basically everyone in the League knows who I am, and what I look like. If they see me, this whole con is blown.” He turned to Digg. “Hey- any chance I could convince you to watch her back?”

“It would be way too suspicious if I didn’t stay with Oliver and the others,” Digg replied. “And if Lyla wasn’t busy with Sara, I’d ask her. Although...there’s a woman I know- she might be able to help.”

“What’s her name?” asked Oliver.

“Mikel Dayan. Lyla and I met her in Afghanistan,” Digg replied. 

“Wasn’t Mikel the woman we met in the job where Chaos tried to kill Sophie?” asked Parker.

“She was,” Eliot answered. “She’s definitely a good choice.”

“You know Mikel?” Digg asked.

“We’ve, uh, hung out a few times,” Eliot said, a faint blush staining his cheeks. Hardison cleared his throat, and Eliot snapped, “This was before _us_ , okay? I wouldn’t- I’d _never_ -”

“It’s cool, man,” Hardison said, but he was still smirking. “So, do you still have her number?”


	7. Chapter 6

“I convinced Ray to let us use his jet,” Felicity said as she walked into the loft. “And I hope someone here knows how to fly it, because it doesn’t exactly come with a pilot.”

Eliot saw Oliver start to open his mouth, but before he could speak, Eliot said, “I’ll fly it.” Oliver turned a somewhat angry look on him, but Eliot beckoned him over.

“I know how to fly a plane,” Oliver said in a low voice.

“You’re going to be staying in Nanda Parbat- you can’t exactly fly them back,” Eliot replied. “Besides, you’re too emotional for me to trust you with Parker’s and Hardison’s lives, let alone the lives of your people. Also, this way, I’ll be there if something comes up.” As he spoke, Oliver’s face became less and less angry. “Now, I suggest you go and make sure Felicity’s okay,” he said. “She looks like she could use a shoulder.”

Oliver huffed out a small breath and nodded, then went over to where Felicity was sitting and put his arm around her. Eliot smiled a bit at the sight, then turned to look at Hardison and Parker, who were putting together a lot of bugs. “How’s it going?” he asked as he walked over.

“Eliot, are you _sure_ we need this many bugs?” Hardison asked. “Cause-”

“Nanda Parbat is pretty big,” Eliot replied. “And since we don’t know how long this is gonna take, we need backups. The bugs won’t last forever.”

Something pinged, and Eliot turned to see Felicity pull out her tablet. “Looks like Mikel’s plane just landed,” she said. “She knows to come here, right?” When Hardison nodded, Felicity continued, “She should be here in about an hour, then.”

“Bugs and comms will be done in two hours,” Hardison said. “Once they’re done, we’ll get Thea and go.”

“Oh- the hospital probably won’t release Thea if they know we’re taking her to a magic hot tub in Nanda Parbat,” Felicity said, and Eliot heard Digg snort at Felicity’s description of the Lazarus Pit. “They probably would accept...STAR Labs. Okay…” she trailed off, her fingers moving over the tablet for a minute. “And done.”


	8. Chapter 7

Parker sat motionlessly on a ledge on the cliff above Nanda Parbat, with Mikel sitting next to her. Parker was dressed in all black, with a mask covering her face, and carried a bag with the bugs, as well as another empty bag inside. Mikel was dressed similarly, but unlike Parker, her bag contained her disguise, and she had a sword hanging from her belt.

Eliot had explained that he was going to fly the jet directly over Nanda Parbat, so that the League would know they were coming, and would turn out to welcome the others. In the distraction, Parker and Mikel, who had jumped out of the plane just before it flew over Nanda Parbat, would sneak in and plant the bugs. Eliot had estimated that they would have about thirty minutes to get all the bugs planted without being noticed.

Looking down on the assembly below, Parker figured that it was about time to get started, and started clambering down the cliff, with Mikel following a little slowly. When they reached the roof of the facade, Parker couldn’t hold back a snort as she realized that no one below had even noticed them.

Parker swung down onto a balcony, and her opinion of the League dropped even lower as she realized that there was no security whatsoever at the window. “This place has the worst security ever,” she hissed to Mikel. “I could break into here blindfolded. _Hardison_ could break into here blindfolded!”

“I think their main security is their remote and hidden location, as well as their reputation,” Mikel replied. 

“I guess,” Parker said with a shrug as she entered the room. “Still, that’s no reason to have all these open windows that anyone could use to enter.” To be perfectly honest, she was kind of offended- any bragging rights she could have attained by breaking into the headquarters of the League of Assassins were completely negated by the utter lack of security here.

“Parker, Mikel- we’ve landed,” Eliot’s voice came over the comm, and Parker and Mikel slipped out of the room. Eliot and Hardison had spent the plane ride drawing up a map of Nanda Parbat, as well as where the bugs should be placed for maximum coverage, so the next twenty minutes were spent following Eliot’s directions.

“Okay, turning on the bugs now,” Hardison said, and continued a few seconds later, “And now we have eyes and ears inside Nanda Parbat. How many bugs do you have left?”

“I still have more than twice what we planted,” Parker replied. “And Mikel still has all of hers.”

“Okay, the trackers on Felicity and Digg are about 10 minutes out,” Hardison said. “Mikel, get ready, and Parker, get out.”

Parker didn’t get out as quickly as she’d come in, mostly because there were a whole lot of completely unguarded pieces of gold and jewels literally just lying around. Hey- if they didn’t bother to try securing this stuff, they shouldn’t even have it in the first place. Besides, that really big diamond would be a perfect decoration for a Christmas tree.


	9. Chapter 8

“Oliver, Parker’s out, and Mikel’s in,” Digg said, then took out the comm in his ear and threw it away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Felicity do the same. Oliver felt a twinge of worry- if something went wrong with the other four people, they’d have no way of knowing. On the other hand, now there was nothing that could connect them with the other four people. 

“Good timing- we’re almost there,” Malcolm said, and Oliver gritted his teeth. He hadn’t really wanted to bring Malcolm along, but both Eliot and Malcolm had said that the ceremony to save Thea- and yes, there was an actual ceremony- required her blood relatives. Thus, Malcolm’s presence.

After a few more minutes of walking, they rounded a corner, and even Oliver slowed down at the sight of the entire League standing in front of Nanda Parbat. “What is that?” he heard Felicity ask.

“The League of Assassins,” Oliver replied, his blank face belying the swirling emotions inside, and continued slowly walking forward.

The sea of black-clad figures suddenly parted, and Ra’s walked forward, flanked by Maseo- Sarab- and a woman in a black gown. “Welcome home, Al Sahim,” Ra’s said when he and Oliver were standing a few feet apart.

Oliver said nothing, letting the sadness and weariness and desperation on his face do all the talking for him, but internally, he couldn’t help but smirk. _Home_ , he thought. _Not for much longer, if this all works_.


	10. Chapter 9

_This is definitely a bad idea_ , Felicity thought. _Right up there next to allying with Malcolm Merlyn. And yet_ …

The ceremony to revive Thea had been kind of beautiful, in a strange and terrifying way. Seeing Thea, still and apparently lifeless, was scary in and of itself- watching her launch out of the pit, shrieking, and start attacking Oliver, was equally as unnerving. Then the priestess had grabbed some powder from a jar right behind Felicity, and a few seconds after she’d touched it to Thea’s neck, she’d gone limp. On an impulse, she’d scooped up a bit of the powder and rolled it up into a scrap of paper, which had gone into her pants pocket.

Eliot had stressed that their part of the con was convincing Ra's al Ghul that the only reason they were in Nanda Parbat was because they were saving Thea, and that they had no other options or plans. And, well, being caught trying to escape with Oliver and Thea would certainly give that impression, wouldn't it? 

She wondered who- or even if- she would tell anyone about it. _Definitely not Oliver_ , she thought. _Or Digg or Malcolm, but I should tell the others_. 

For some reason, when she pulled out her cell phone, she actually seemed to have pretty good reception. _Maybe the League’s technology isn’t stuck in the Dark Ages the way everything else seems to be_ , she thought as the pulled up Hardison’s contact and started typing.

_I need to talk to Eliot._

A few seconds later, her phone started to ring, and she picked it up. “What is it, Felicity?” Eliot asked.

"Atah medaber Ivrit?" Felicity asked. When Eliot replied that he did, Felicity continued, "Nir'a lecha she ze ra'ayon tov lehitafes kshe anachnu menasim lehavria et Oliver?"

"Zeh mesukan," Eliot replied. "Ani mesha'er she'at rotza lehasit et tzumet libam me'hatochnit ha'amitit?"

"Keyn," Felicity said. "Ani choshevet shelesamem et Oliver ve lenasot lakhtof oto yira'e lahem k'mo hamotza a'aharon shelanu."

Eliot was silent for a few seconds, then replied, "Ze yachol la'avod. At rotza she'ani yagid la'acherim?"

"Rak la'anashim shelcha. Ani agid le'sheli acharey she'ani esamem oto," Felicity said. "Ani lo yoda'at kama z'man ze yikach li, az be'regah she'ani muchana ani eshlach oda'a le Hardison."

"Behatzlacha," was Eliot’s only reply before he hung up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a translation of what Felicity and Eliot are saying, courtesy of Anna (mimozka on tumblr):  
> "Atah medaber Ivrit?" “Do you know Hebrew?”
> 
> "Nir'a lecha she ze ra'ayon tov lehitafes kshe anachnu menasim lehavria et Oliver?" "Do you think getting caught trying to escape with Oliver would be a good idea?” 
> 
> "Zeh mesukan," “It’s risky,”
> 
> "Ani mesha'er she'at rotza lehasit et tzumet libam me'hatochnit ha'amitit?" “I assume you’re trying to throw off suspicion from the actual con?” 
> 
> "Keyn," “yeah”
> 
> "Ani choshevet shelesamem et Oliver ve lenasot lakhtof oto yira'e lahem k'mo hamotza a'aharon shelanu." “I think drugging Oliver and trying to kidnap him would give the impression that it was a last resort.”
> 
> "Ze yachol la'avod. At rotza she'ani yagid la'acherim?" “It could work. Do you want me to let the others know?”
> 
> "Rak la'anashim shelcha. Ani agid le'sheli acharey she'ani esamem oto," “Just your people. I’ll tell my people after I drug him,” 
> 
> "Ani lo yoda'at kama z'man ze yikach li, az be'regah she'ani muchana ani eshlach oda'a le Hardison." “I don’t know how long it’ll take, so I’ll send Hardison a text once he’s drugged.” 
> 
> "Behatzlacha," “Good luck,”


	11. Chapter 10

When Felicity had started talking in- another language, Oliver wasn’t sure what- it had actually torn his attention away from watching Thea, even if only for a few seconds. The only words he could even understand was when she said his name, and from the confused expressions on Digg’s and Malcolm’s faces, he suspected that they understood about as much as he did. 

Felicity hung up the phone in a very short amount of time, then turned back to watch Thea. The silence in the room was broken when Digg asked, "What language was that? It sounded a bit like Arabic."

"It's Hebrew," Felicity replied in a somewhat distracted tone of voice. When that was all she said, Digg continued, "So do we get any hint of what that meant?"

"It's better that you didn't," Felicity said. "Normally I'd tell you, but there's nothing about _any_ of this that's normal, and it'll work much better if your reactions are genuine. Honestly, I only told Eliot and the others so they don't panic when it happens."

"Aren't _you_ cunning, Miss Smoak," Malcolm said, a slight smirk on his face, which fell away when Felicity turned a withering glare on him. 

"Shut up, Malcolm," she bit out. "We wouldn't even _be_ in this situation if it wasn't for you."

Oliver couldn't help but smile at Felicity’s retort. No wonder he loved her. He was about to try to get her attention, but before he could think of anything to say, Thea jolted up in the bed, gasping for breath.


	12. Chapter 11

Felicity couldn't believe her good luck as she walked back to the room Thea was in. The drama that had accompanied Thea waking up had actually been a chilling dose of the reality of their situation, and if Felicity hadn't brought in the Leverage team, she was pretty sure that all of them would have been completely screwed. God willing, Oliver would only be in Nanda Parbat for a few weeks, but the injustice and unfairness of this whole situation had just decided to hit her all at once. 

She'd stormed out of the room, claiming a need for some air, and had been drawn back to the temple, where she'd seen Ra's al Ghul talking with the man Oliver had referred to as Maseo, saying something about a bunch of missing gold and jewels. After Ra's told him to leave, she'd yelled at him, keeping in mind that _they didn't have any plans, they were out of ideas_ the whole time.

She'd even found it a little bit funny when Ra's had basically brushed off her threat that they had friends, and they would go to war to bring Oliver back. He really had no idea how true her statement was, how much they'd done to foil his plans for Oliver becoming the next Ra’s al Ghul.

And then- he'd given her a _gift_ , a giant _present_ of untold value to her. He'd told her to confess how she felt to Oliver, to tell him goodbye, and the implications were that she should do this alone. He'd just given her a way to pull off her fake kidnapping idea. If she hadn't been focused on staying in character- and if she'd despised him a little bit less- she honestly could have kissed him on the cheek. 

When she got to Thea’s room, however, Oliver wasn't there. "He got escorted out of here a few minutes ago," Digg said when he saw her confused expression. 

"Any idea where he is now?" Felicity asked.

"Ask one of them," Digg replied, jerking his head towards the people stationed at the door. 

Once Felicity asked, one of the faceless people led her away. When they were in an empty-looking corridor, the person paused and pulled off the hood, revealing Mikel’s face.

"Eliot told me about your plan," she said. "I approve. Hardison will let me know when you start 'escaping', and I will lend as much help as I can."

"Thank you," Felicity said. "Also, can you pass on that Ra's was talking about a bunch of missing gold and jewels?"


	13. Chapter 12

Oliver was sitting alone in the starkly beautiful room that he'd been escorted to. The sound of the door opening startled him out of his musings, and his heart stuttered when he saw Felicity peek in. 

"How are you holding up?" She asked as she walked in, and Oliver fixed her with a look. "Okay, I'll admit that was not the greatest thing to ask, because your sister just got revived and doesn't remember you, and you're going to be stuck here alone for a while, and that's more of a burden than anyone should bear."

Oliver sighed. "I know we have a plan, but I don't know if it's worth it," he said. "Ever since- the entire time you've known me, I've been struggling with who I am, and now... maybe it's for the best that I'm here. Everything I've done has- has led me _right here_ , to this exact moment, and it- all that I've been through, everything that we've done- what was it even _for_?"

Felicity walked over and sat down in front of him. "You _saved_ people, Oliver. That's what it was for- you've saved the lives of _countless_ people, and you've helped so many others and made their lives so much better."

Oliver watched as Felicity paused and took a deep breath. "And you've made _my_ life so much better. You've opened up my heart in a way I didn't even know was possible."

Oliver looked up at her face, and felt a tide of hope surge through him at the expression on her face. Was she going to say...

Felicity took another breath, then said, "I love you."

Oliver felt like he was suspended in a breathless, weightless moment after Felicity said those three words. He felt like he was moving through molasses as he reached for Felicity’s glasses, then set them down with a slight noise. That small sound was enough to get rid of the feeling that he was floating, but by then, he was kissing Felicity.

He'd kissed her twice before (and a few times when he was dreaming). The first time had been to fool Slade, and kissing Felicity had felt so good, so _right_ , even though it was supposed to be fake. The second time, they'd kind of broken up, and it had felt bittersweet.

This time- all Oliver could feel was his love for Felicity, and his elation over the fact that she'd finally told him that she loved him. He felt Felicity shift from her chair to straddle him, then after a few more seconds, stand up. 

Oliver watched as she took off her jacket, and his pulse quickened. There was only one thing that would be happening if Felicity was taking off her clothes, so he quickly took off his shirt and tossed it on the floor as he stood up. He took a second to look into her eyes, which were filled with love and acceptance, so when she lifted up her arms, he pulled off her tank top and dropped it on the floor. 

There was a little niggling voice that said that something wasn't right, but Oliver ignored it. He could pay attention to it later, because right now, he was kissing Felicity, which was a memory that would definitely help him in the weeks to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys wanted some actual porn, sorry to disappoint, but for me, writing porn is actually quite a challenge.


	14. Chapter 13

Felicity watched as Oliver drained his cup, and as he lowered it, she said, “I’m sorry.”

Oliver’s expression went from happy to slightly confused, and he said, “Felicity, what-”

“It’s what I was talking to Eliot about,” she said. “I’m sorry I had to do this to you, but I can't leave you here.” As she talked, Oliver crumpled to the floor, falling into unconsciousness as the drugs in the wine took hold.

 _It’s done. Tell Mikel to bring Digg and Malcolm to my location_ , she texted Hardison.

She quickly put on her clothes, then started pacing. After a short amount of time, Digg and Malcolm walked in.

“This is what Eliot and I were talking about earlier,” she said. “We get caught pretending to escape with Oliver and Thea. Malcolm, what’s the best secret exit route?”

“This is _insane_ , Felicity,” Malcolm replied. “We’ll get killed!”

“Mikel will help, and you two both have weapons,” she said. “The _point_ of this is fooling Ra’s into thinking we have no hope and no plans and no contingencies, which will help conceal our plan. Now, best escape route, _please_.”

“The catacombs,” Malcolm said after a pause. “It’s got just enough guards for us to almost get through.”

“Get Thea and meet us back here in 5 minutes,” Felicity ordered, and when Malcolm hesitated, she said “Now!”


	15. Chapter 14

Felicity may have hated him, but she couldn’t deny that Malcolm was a useful ally in a fight. She’d heard Eliot say that the League needed some serious technique improvements, but seeing Malcolm actually defeat a sword-fighter with nothing but his bare hands just drove in Eliot’s point.

She was actually a bit surprised that they made it to the temple alive and unharmed, but that was nothing to the shock of being helped by Maseo. It was nice of him, but Felicity was a bit worried- at this rate, they might actually make it out. Fortunately, Thea’s fit was timed perfectly- they’d been caught. 

If they’d actually been trying to escape, Felicity supposed that she would have terrified when Thea’s fit caused them to be surrounded. As it was, she still wore a terrified expression.

“Believe me, we do _not_ want to be taken alive,” said Malcolm, but before Felicity really had much of a chance to worry, she saw Oliver surge up out of the corner of her eye.

“Hold!” Oliver yelled, and Felicity felt a slight pooling of heat at Oliver’s commanding tone. She could only stare at him as he ordered the League members to back down. When he said that he’d return shortly, she grinned internally- her plan, as crazy as it was, had somehow succeeded.


	16. Chapter 15

Oliver watched as Digg walked away, leaving only him and Felicity. “Were you really planning on escaping with me?” he asked.

Felicity shook her head silently, then said, “Yes. I couldn’t stand to lose you.”

Oliver quirked an eyebrow. “Plausible deniability?”

“You can’t divulge secrets that you don’t know,” she said. “And I don’t know what you’re going to go through after this, but the secret you already know is a big enough burden- you shouldn’t have to add more to it. And Oliver- what... _we_ did. That was real. Everything I said was true.”

“Good,” Oliver replied. “I’ll have at least that memory to cling to, while I’m here.”

Felicity sighed. “I know it’s only temporary, but leaving you here alone- it’s gonna destroy me,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “And I know I have to, but I _really_ don’t want to say goodbye to you.”

“This isn’t goodbye, Felicity,” Oliver said. “I _will_ see you later. I promise.” He leaned down to kiss her, refusing to pull away for a long time. When they broke away, Felicity started to move to hug him, but walked around him at the last second.

Oliver watched her walk away until she turned behind a hill, then started walking back. It wasn’t long before he saw Mikel standing off to the side of the path, wearing the League outfit and holding the hood in her hands.

“So now it begins,” she said, and a shiver of dread went through Oliver. The easy part- at least for him- was over.

“You’re going to pass information to the others, right?” Oliver asked. When Mikel replied that she would, Oliver continued, “Make sure they know that I love them.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Mikel said before she put on the hood and melted away into the shadows.


	17. Chapter 16

“Blood has been shed. _League_ blood, and that is a transgression punishable by death,” Ra’s said in an angry tone. “And yet, you allowed your friends safe passage home.” _Not all of them_ , Oliver thought. _Mikel is still here_.

“Tell me why I should not hunt these people down and stain my blade with their blood,” Ra’s continued, and Oliver felt a surge of dread. If Ra’s came after his people, he wasn’t sure even Eliot would be able to stop him. 

“Because I stayed,” Oliver replied, his tone firm. “I’m honoring our agreement. Now the League will not interfere with the lives of anyone close to me.” The success of the con depended on the League being unaware of what they were doing.

“Your allies would not have been able to escape through the catacombs without assistance, so tell me who aided you- who this traitor is,” Ra’s said.

Oliver silently thanked Felicity for not telling him what she was planning- she’d been absolutely right in saying that he couldn’t divulge secrets he didn’t know. He might have said Mikel, but he wasn’t even sure if Mikel had helped at all. “I don’t know,” he said.

“It was me,” Maseo said immediately after Oliver stopped talking, and both Oliver and Ra’s turned to stare at him. Oliver was unable to move as he watched Maseo step forward, and then offer his life for his betrayal.

Ra’s took the sword out of Maseo’s hands, and Oliver looked away as Ra’s placed it against Maseo’s neck. “You did not betray me tonight, Sarab. Maseo Yamashiro did,” he said, and Oliver’s relief hit him like a punch in the gut. He wouldn’t have to see another friend die in front of him.

“For a moment, your old life took hold, but by coming here and kneeling before me, you have proven your loyalty, and I will not spill Sarab’s blood for Maseo’s actions. Stand up. Your service will be vital in the coming weeks. Oliver will need you for his transformation,” Ra’s said, then started walking toward Oliver.

“Like Sarab, vestiges of your old identity still remain,” he said, and Oliver put everything he had into maintaining a blank face. “Oliver Queen must be extinguished from memory. And Sarab- make sure you find the thief who took the gold and jewels.” With that, he left the room.

Oliver huffed out a nearly silent breath. He’d be willing to bet his old fortune that he knew _exactly_ who had taken that stuff from the League, but as Maseo- Sarab, really, now- led him from the room, his thoughts grew darker. Eliot had told Oliver that the League was a lot like a cult, and from what he’d just seen, it seemed that Eliot was right. He was going to have a hell of a time pulling this act off.


	18. Chapter 17

Hardison let out a relieved sigh when he saw Felicity, Digg, Malcolm, and Thea approach the plane. When Eliot had told him, Parker, and Mikel about Felicity’s plan, he really hadn't liked it- it sounded _really_ dangerous- but he'd decided not to voice his objections.

As they got closer, Hardison’s smile fell from his face when he saw how weary they looked. "Hey Eliot, you might want to get the plane started," he called back, and no sooner had the others boarded the plane than the engines turned on. 

Hardison spent a few minutes doing the rounds, which mostly just involved making sure everyone was comfortable, until he got to Felicity. His gut clenched as he looked at her expression- it was the forced neutrality of someone who was trying to conceal how much pain they were in. He'd seen it enough times on Eliot’s face to be able to recognize it. 

"Wanna talk about it?" Hardison asked as he sat down across from Felicity.

"It worked, we're going home, and Ra's is none the wiser," Felicity replied. "What's there to talk about?"

"Aside from the fact that _something_ obviously went down?" Hardison answered. "I mean, I don't need the details, but you're not okay right now."

"I- I told Oliver, when I was drugging him, that I couldn't bear to leave him behind," she said slowly, her voice sad. "It wasn't true, except for the part where it was."

Hardison’s heart ached at the pain in her voice, and he leaned across to pull her into a hug. "Hey- it'll be okay, Felicity," he said reassuringly. "It's only for a few weeks, and we're not gonna let anything happen to him."

"I know," was her muffled reply. "But it still hurts."


	19. Chapter 18

Mikel couldn't help but wince a bit in sympathy when she saw the cell Oliver was being kept in. She'd been there when he was being branded two nights ago, and from what she'd could tell, yesterday he'd started undergoing rigorous training. Sleeping in chains on a cold stone floor could not be pleasant. 

"Oliver, wake up," she said as she laid down the sludge that was supposed to be his breakfast, and Oliver mumbled something too quiet for her to hear. 

"What was that?" she asked, kneeling next to him. 

"I'm not Oliver, I'm Al Sahim," he said, and a surge of worry went through Mikel.

"Did you hear that?" she muttered into the comm. 

"Mikel, are his eyes dilated?" was Eliot’s reply. Mikel bent down closer, then said, " _Very_ dilated. And he doesn't really seem to recognize me."

"Is he eating the food?" Eliot asked, and when Mikel replied that he wasn't, Eliot cursed. "Dammit, they already drugged him with Votura."

Mikel could hear Hardison asking what the hell Votura was, but she only said, "How can you tell it's Votura?"

"It's got a very distinctive effect on people," Eliot growled. "Mikel, don't let him eat any more food prepared by League- it's probably laced to the gills with a bunch of drugs. Find a way to smuggle him some food and water that's not drugged."

Mikel sighed. "No problem," she said, and pulled out some of her own food from her disguise. As Oliver started eating, she took out a few bugs and a mini-camera and placed them around the cell. 

Once Oliver had finished eating- and seemed to gain some actual awareness of his surroundings- she left the cell. She'd either have to establish a contact with one of the people in the village an hour away from Nanda Parbat, or she'd have to ask the others to make frequent supply runs to keep her and Oliver fed and sane. 

_This is more work than I signed on for_ , she thought. _I think I'll ask them to give me a bonus. It's not like they can't afford it_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what the effects of Votura are, bc it's a completely fictional plant. That being said, I had to include Eliot saying "It's a very distinctive (something)", otherwise it just wouldn't have felt like a Leverage crossover ;)


	20. Chapter 19

Thea was disoriented for a few moments when she started to wake up- she could feel that she was on a couch in her loft, but she couldn’t remember how she had gotten there- and looked around the room. Felicity was sitting on the couch across from her, next to an unfamiliar man who had a distinctly dangerous air to him.

“Felicity? Who’s he? What’s going on?” Thea asked, her voice coming out rough and shaky, and Felicity and the guy exchanged a look. 

“This is Eliot Spencer,” Felicity replied. “He’s- a friend, he’s here to help.”

“Help with _what_?” Thea asked.

Felicity looked at Eliot again, then turned back to Thea. “How much of the past few days do you remember?” she asked.

Thea started running through her most recent memories. “I was here...Ra’s attacked me!”

“He nearly killed you, Thea,” Felicity said. “And we couldn’t deal with this on our own, so I called Hardison- he’s...we do a lot of similar things online, and we’ve met a few times- and he and his team- Eliot, and Parker, she’s not here- they came to help us.”

“What are you talking about?” Thea demanded.

“Ra’s nearly killed you in order to blackmail your brother into joining the League,” Eliot said. “We- my team, and your brother’s team- we came up with a plan to take down the League, but right now, your brother is staying in Nanda Parbat. We managed to plant a lot of bugs in Nanda Parbat, and we also have a friend who’s staying there and helping- passing information between Oliver and us, and making sure Oliver’s okay- and right now, we’re still just biding our time and gathering information that will help us.”

“The reason we’re telling you this is because you need to know what we’re all going to be doing now,” Felicity said. “The League _cannot_ know that we’re working with the Leverage team- that’s what Eliot, Parker, and Hardison call themselves- they have to think that we’ve lost Oliver for good, and that we’re just trying to move on and figure out how we’re going to deal.”

“Hardison said that Oliver convinced the League to not interfere or monitor us, but we still need to be careful about making contact with each other,” Eliot said. “For your safety, we’re going to be staying in a safe house- we haven’t told anyone the address, so if you’re tortured, you won’t be able to give up the location- and all contact between our groups goes through burner phones that only Felicity and Hardison have.”

“So what does that mean?” Thea asked. Her head was spinning with all the information she’d just received.

“It means that you’ve just lost your brother, and you’re just trying to figure out how to go on,” Eliot said. “Chances are, the League is still going to try to keep some tabs on us, so that’s what they have to see.”

“How long is this supposed to go on?” Thea asked.

“It shouldn’t take longer than a few weeks,” Felicity replied. “If you ever want to talk to someone about this, you can talk to me, or Digg, or even Malcolm- so far, the only other person we’ve told about this is Lyla. I’m probably going to tell Laurel next.” She got up and sat down next to Thea. “I know this is probably a bit overwhelming, but you don’t have to go through this alone.”

“Thank you,” Thea said.


	21. Chapter 20

When Felicity stepped into the garage of Palmer Tech, she saw Eliot- albeit wearing a ski mask and pointing a gun at her- standing in front of her. “Get in the van,” he growled, and for a second, Felicity actually felt a bit afraid. She kept the fear on her face and got into the back of the van, where she saw Digg and Hardison sitting on the floor. Hardison was absorbed in something on his laptop.

“Isn’t the mask and gun a bit much?” she asked as she got settled.

“I’ve been hacking into security cam footage for the past few days,” Hardison replied, looking up. “There’s a few League members still in the city, and they’ve been tailing you. Eliot figured that they’re just looking to see if you do anything unusual.”

“And being kidnapped isn’t going to alert them?” Felicity asked.

“Trust me on this, they could care less if some masked guy kidnapped you at gunpoint,” Eliot called back. “And we need to have a planning session, because Parker and I are flying out tomorrow to drop off some stuff for Oliver and Mikel. We’ll drop you somewhere else after we’re done and let the police find you.”

After about 20 minutes, Eliot pulled the van to a stop, then opened the back. From the looks of it, they were in a large garage, and Eliot led them out of the garage and into a large room that seemed to be where they’d set up. There was a king-sized bed, a bunch of tables with a bunch of computers on them, and various duffel bags and portable lamps strewn about the room. 

A sharp zipping sound made Felicity look up to see Parker drop down from the ceiling, suspended from a rope. “Good, you’re here,” she said. “Hardison, any new info?”

“There was another conversion session today, but that’s it,” he replied as he went over to the computers and started pulling up various screens. “Here’s a rundown of what we’ve gathered over the past week. One- if your boy wants to get rich again, I’d tell him to consider a career in acting. Based on what I’ve heard from the bugs in Nanda Parbat, everyone thinks his “training” is going perfectly.”

“Two- thanks to Mikel and Eliot, we’ve figured out basically what kind of drugs they’re putting in his food,” Hardison continued, and Felicity felt shocked. They were _drugging_ Oliver? “There’s an herb that makes him easily susceptible to suggestion, there’s a few for confusion and disorientation, there’s one that has a bit of a hallucinogenic effect over time, and another few that are basically just supposed to mess with his perception of reality. There’s also been two- no, three sessions where they basically just try to make him forget who he is and reinforce his new identity. Also, Mikel passed on that he said that most of the weapons training he’s done is with swords, and that he’s only picked up a bow once this week.”

“Three- most of the stuff I’ve picked up from the bugs is that _someone_ stole a bunch of treasure, and the thief still hasn’t been found,” Hardison said, looking pointedly at Parker, who just tilted her head in response. “There’s also no indication that they suspect anything’s going on- Mikel hasn’t been discovered, and everyone seems pretty convinced by Oliver’s performance. Like I said, he could probably have a career as an actor.”

“Four- the League’s presence in Starling City isn’t actually as much of a nuisance as you’d think it would be. When they’re tailing you guys, it’s like they don’t even notice any security cameras, much less hide from them. It took me less than a _day_ to track them back to their temporary base, and their security- physical and electronic- is a _joke_. I can keep track of all of the activity on their computers and phones from here, and Parker placed some bugs, so we basically know whatever they know.”

“And speaking of that, we learned that not only is Ra’s daughter in Starling City, they think she has something. I heard one of them saying that he searched the building where she’s currently staying, but “it”- whatever “it” is- wasn’t there, and another one saying that it was essential that they retrieve “it”, because otherwise Ra’s wouldn’t be happy.” He took a breath. “Eliot says that we should tell Nyssa, and also bring her here. If we do that, we’d have to do it tonight, after we drop you off.”

“Do it,” Felicity said. “If the League is tracking her, she’s probably not working with them, and she’s a skilled fighter and knows about the League.”

“Sounds good,” Hardison replied. “And finally- Oliver said to tell you that he loves all of you- except for Malcolm- and that he thinks about you every day and hopes you’re all happy, and that he’s hanging in there, and he’ll be home as soon as possible.” Felicity felt a lump form in her throat as Hardison relayed Oliver’s message, but felt a weight she wasn’t even aware of lift off her shoulders. She’d been worried about Oliver, but apparently, he was fine.

“We’ll pass on this information to the others when we see them,” Digg said. “Also, speaking of seeing people, what should we tell the police when they find us?”

“Security cameras indicates that you were both accosted by League members, who forced you into the van at swordpoint,” Hardison said. “From then on, you were injected with something that knocked you out. You woke up in a warehouse, which the police found because someone called in an anonymous tip that they saw you two being taken into the warehouse. We will have to actually knock you out, but we’ll make sure you’re safe, and we’ll also get to discredit the League.”

As Eliot escorted them out of the room, Felicity sighed. At least this kidnapping wouldn’t actually put her in too much harm.


	22. Chapter 21

As soon as Nyssa entered the abandoned building that she was using for shelter, she could tell that something was amiss. Instinctively, her hand went to the handle of her sword as she looked around, trying to discern what the threat was.

There was a whisper of noise from behind her, and Nyssa whirled to face it as she drew her sword- only for it to hit another sword that was being held by a man wearing a League uniform. Nyssa smirked- if the man was looking for the vial, he’d have a hard time finding it. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

The man, however, said nothing, but started to attack her. As they fought, Nyssa found herself surprised- the man was actually keeping her on her toes, and there weren’t a lot of people who could do that. She tried to get a look at his face, but the man seemed to be wearing a ski mask underneath, preventing her from seeing anything except his bright blue eyes.

Eventually, Nyssa saw an opening, and lightning-quick, darted in and disarmed the man, before forcing him down onto his knees, her sword at his throat. She lowered the hood, then pulled off the mask before stumbling back a step in shock at the familiar face staring at her.

“Eliot?” she asked, and Eliot smiled slightly. “Sorry about this, Nyssa,” he said, and before Nyssa could react, she felt something touch her neck, and the world faded to black.


	23. Chapter 22

A sharp jolt woke Nyssa, and she surged upright to see that she was in the back of a van with two duffel bags and an unfamiliar blond woman. Before she could do anything, the woman called, “Eliot, she’s awake.”

Nyssa tensed as her memories came flooding back. If she had to guess, she’d say that Eliot had used the swordfight to distract her from noticing the presence of the woman, who’d probably knocked her out.

“Nyssa, calm down,” Eliot said. “Parker and I are taking you someplace safe. We brought all your stuff.”

Nyssa made her way over to the duffel bags and opened them. To her relief, all of her stuff seemed to be in there.

Eliot continued to talk. “We decided to bring you in, and since the League managed to find where you were staying and search it, we figured it’d be better if you stayed in our safe-house. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Nyssa was grateful that she’d decided to keep the vial hidden on her. If she’d hidden it in the building, the League might have found it, or Eliot and the woman might have missed it. 

True to his word, Eliot pulled to a stop a few minutes later, and Nyssa grabbed the bags and followed him and the woman through a seemingly abandoned house to a large room with a bunch of stuff, as well as an unfamiliar black man, in it. 

“Hardison, help get Nyssa set up and explain everything,” Eliot said. “Parker and I still need to go, uh, shopping.”

“Yeah, sure, go and steal stuff, leave me alone with the deadly assassin,” said the other guy, and Nyssa quirked a bit of a smile. “If she hurts me while you’re gone, you only have yourselves to blame.”

“I would not hurt anyone Eliot is protecting,” Nyssa said. “He’s one of the few people who can best me in combat.”

The man named Hardison blinked. “That- cool,” he eventually said. “Okay, you clearly don’t have a mattress, let’s go see if we can find a bed for you.”

Nyssa found herself being dragged throughout the house by Hardison, helping her find a room to stay in and setting it up to her satisfaction. Once they were done, she followed him back to the inhabited room.

“Okay, have a seat,” Hardison said, and Nyssa sat down on the floor. “So, as you probably know, your father wants to make Oliver his successor.”

“I am aware of that fact,” Nyssa said coldly. 

“What you probably _don’t_ know is that he kind of blackmailed Oliver into joining the League,” Hardison continued. “He almost killed Thea Queen, and offered to save her life in exchange for Oliver joining.”

“When did this happen?” Nyssa asked, her tone full of urgency. 

“About a week ago,” Hardison replied nonchalantly. “See, the thing is, when he almost killed Thea, Felicity- you know her? Good- called me and asked us to help. Me, Parker, and Eliot- we help people, it’s what we do, and right now, we’re helping Oliver and his people try to take down the League.”

Nyssa felt a rush of conflicting emotions at his words, but maintained a blank face. “How are you planning on doing that?” she asked.

“Well, right now, Oliver and a friend of ours are inside Nanda Parbat,” Hardison replied. “In theory, Oliver is being brainwashed and whatnot, but in actuality, he’s perfectly fine, and his people are acting as though they just lost him and are trying to move on. They also don’t have a lot of contact with us, so the League doesn’t suspect that we’re working together.”

“But you’re not here because of that,” he said. “You’re here because earlier this week, one of the League members currently staying in this city found where you were staying and searched it for something that he couldn’t find. We had a briefing with Felicity and John Diggle tonight, and they agreed that it would probably be safer for you, and better for all of us, if the League didn’t know where you were staying.”

“I appreciate that,” Nyssa said. “As for what they were searching for, it is imperative that they do not find it. And-” Nyssa paused, then took a breath. “If you are indeed sincere in your desire to take down the League, I would be glad to be of assistance.”


	24. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jsyk, I'm changing up the timeline a little bit so that Oliver learns about Damien Darhk about a week before his training is "complete"

When Oliver heard Mikel’s now-familiar footsteps, he sat up, impatient to tell her what he’d learned today.

“What is it?” Mikel asked when she entered the cell. 

“Does the name Damien Darhk mean anything to you?” Oliver replied. Mikel shook her head, and then tilted it to the side- probably listening to Eliot. Oliver’s assumption was confirmed when Mikel said, “Eliot says that he’s the leader of an organization called H.I.V.E.”

“Apparently, he was like a brother to Ra’s,” Oliver said, recalling what Ra’s had told him in the ruins of his village that day. “And when Ra’s hesitated to kill him, Damien fled and became his enemy. Ra’s then told me that I could not afford to make the same mistake that he did- he wants me to kill my “rival” without mercy.”

Oliver paused for a second, then continued. “I suspect that he would have sent me to kill Nyssa immediately, but I flinched when he called me Al Sahim. He probably thinks that I’m not quite ready yet, so I’ll probably be here for a little bit longer.”

Mikel was silent for a few seconds, then said, “Eliot says to tell you that Nyssa is currently staying with his team in their safehouse, and that he passed on your message to your people.”

Oliver smiled at Mikel’s words. Even if he didn’t know how the people he cared about were doing, at least they knew he loved them.

“Goodnight, Oliver,” Mikel said, before she left the cell. Oliver lay back down, and fell into sleep, memories of his loved ones playing on the back of his eyelids.


	25. Chapter 24

Felicity’s burner phone buzzed, and she pulled it out to see that there was a text. _Need to have strategy meeting now_ , was all it said.

Felicity quickly typed out a reply. _I’m at work rn. Is video chat safe?_

A few seconds later, the phone rang. Hardison started talking as soon as she picked up. “I suppose, considering the League’s comparatively nonexistent computer skills, but…”

“I know it’d be safer, but I have a company to run,” Felicity replied. “I can’t afford to spend time being kidnapped.”

“Yeah, I kinda forgot you have an actual job,” Hardison replied apologetically. “We’re still picking up Digg. I’ll set up the video in about half an hour.”

“Sounds good,” Felicity replied, then hung up. If she only had half an hour, she could probably get a fair amount of paperwork done. 

After a surprisingly short amount of time, Felicity got a video call from Hardison. When the image cleared, she could see Eliot, Parker, Hardison, Digg, and Nyssa sitting on various surfaces in the large room the Leverage team had set up in.

“We finally got a break,” Hardison said. “Apparently Ra’s told Oliver a story about a guy named Damien Darhk- which, by the way, sounds like an actual comic-book-character’s name- and also implied that Oliver would have to kill Nyssa. I’m not too worried about Oliver killing Nyssa, because so far, only the three of us-” he gestured at himself, Eliot, and Parker- “actually know where we’re holed up.”

“Anyway, getting back to the good news- if there’s anything we’ve learned over the years, it’s that it’s always a good thing for a mark to have an enemy,” Hardison continued. “It makes them vulnerable, and from the sound of it, Damien Darhk is a key vulnerability for Ra’s. Now, I did some digging on Darhk, and the only result I came up with is an organization called H.I.V.E. Now, even though Ra’s and Darhk appear to be enemies, their organizations haven’t engaged in any sort of concentrated hostilities.”

“They would,” Nyssa interrupted. “My father would order an attack on H.I.V.E. if it appeared as though I went to them to lead an attack on him.”

“What do you mean?” Digg asked. “You’d _ally_ with H.I.V.E?”

“Of course not,” Nyssa scoffed. “I’d merely pretend to. You said there are members of the League within Starling City?” Hardison nodded. “Then they’ll see me having a meeting with a H.I.V.E. agent to ask for an alliance.”

“And how exactly would you convince H.I.V.E. to ally with you?” Eliot asked. “They’re even worse fighters than the League, and you’re Ra’s daughter.”

“Because I have a vial containing a deadly virus that could wipe out every member of the League with me,” Nyssa replied. After a few seconds of stunned silence, she continued. “The last step of ascending to Ra’s is to wipe out your hometown from existence. When my father disowned me, I stole the virus, because I knew that it would be used by my usurper to destroy their hometown. If it got back to my father that I was going to give the virus to H.I.V.E. to use against the League, he’d have no choice but to attack them.”

“Hold on,” said Digg, shaking his head. “Are you- are you saying that Oliver knew he would have to destroy Starling City to become Ra’s?”

“Oliver had no way of knowing,” Nyssa replied. “He would never intentionally betray the city he has tried to save, or the people he loves.”

“So- let’s go steal a H.I.V.E,” Parker said.


	26. Chapter 25

Hardison smirked as he heard Ra’s start talking to another guy. He’d berated Parker when she’d said that she’d planted a bug on Ra’s himself, but there was no doubt it was very useful right now. “What is it, Sarab?”

“It concerns your daughter,” the guy named Sarab- and _seriously_ , what kind of a name was that- replied. “I just received word from our agents in Starling City that she intends on allying with H.I.V.E. and giving them the virus so they can wipe out the League.”

“She cannot be allowed to do that,” barked Ra’s. “Have them bring her back here.”

“They cannot find her,” Sarab said. “The man who was tailing her when she had a meeting with a H.I.V.E. agent lost track of her when he was attacked and defeated by a masked man.” Hardison snorted- Eliot had been the one who’d taken care of Nyssa’s tail, and from the sound of it, the League didn’t realize that anything else was going on.

“Then make sure they _find_ her,” Ra’s replied, before falling silent for a few seconds. “Sarab- look at Al Sahim. Do you think any vestige of Oliver Queen remains?”

There was silence for a few more seconds, then Sarab said, “He has yet to fight his conscience, but he should be ready to do that tomorrow night.”

“Then tomorrow night, we shall see if Oliver Queen is truly dead or not,” Ra’s replied. “Use one of the people from the village for the body.”


	27. Chapter 26

“You have made great progress in three weeks, Al Sahim,” Ra’s said as Oliver took off his hood and mask, and Oliver kept his face completely blank. “You no longer flinch upon hearing your new name.”

“Oliver Queen is alive only in the past,” Oliver replied, repeating the words he’d heard over and over during the past few weeks. “He is forgotten.”

“Indeed,” Ra’s replied. “You are Al Sahim. You are Waraith Al Ghul, Heir to the Demon.” He and Oliver started to walk away, but were interrupted by someone shouting “My lord!”

Oliver turned to see Sarab approaching, followed by two other League members holding a hooded man captive between them. “We captured this intruder,” Sarab continued.

“Why is he still alive?” Ra’s questioned, and Sarab replied, “He is known to Al Sahim.” As he said that, he took the hood off the man’s head, and Oliver kept his face utterly emotionless at the sight of the person’s unfamiliar face.

He knew what was going to happen- Mikel had visited him the night before and told Oliver that one of the drugs in his food was supposed to cause him to hallucinate the person he regarded as his conscience, and that he was supposed to fight- and kill- whoever that person was. Oliver had been utterly grateful that he wasn’t eating the drugged food- if he’d seen someone like Digg or Felicity or Thea kneeling on the ground right now, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to continue the charade.

“Clearly he made another attempt to free Al Sahim,” Sarab said as the man looked around. 

“Then it falls on Al Sahim to deal with him,” Ra’s replied, and Oliver would have rolled his eyes at their performance if it wouldn’t have given him away. Still, he played along, asking for the man’s chains to be removed, and giving him Sarab’s sword.

The fight was a mockery of combat- the man, whoever he was, had no experience with swords. Oliver didn’t hesitate as he plunged his sword into the man’s chest, considering that doing so would not have been something that Al Sahim would have done.

As he stared down at the man’s corpse, Ra’s started talking about the herb that Oliver was supposed to have been taking over the past three weeks, and its effects. Oliver remained silent, making sure his inner turmoil over killing an innocent man didn’t show. 

“Who did you see?” Ra’s asked, but Oliver remained silent. He couldn’t even lie, because if he said someone’s name, he was sure he’d see himself killing them in his dreams.

Fortunately, when he didn’t answer, Ra’s only said, “Very well. Come with me- there is something we need to talk about.”


	28. Chapter 27

No one even looked twice at Mikel as she walked down to Oliver’s cell, and she silently thanked God that her face was concealed by a hood and a mask- it meant that no one could see her scornful expression. 

The guard standing outside Oliver’s cell nodded at her when she arrived and left. As soon as he was out of sight, Mikel slipped into Oliver’s cell. To an unobservant eye, Oliver appeared to be sound asleep, but Mikel knew better.

“I heard we’re leaving tomorrow,” she said, and Oliver sat up. 

“That’s the plan,” Oliver replied, then took a breath. “Ra’s seems confident that Oliver Queen is dead, because he told me- apparently, the last step to ascend to Ra’s is the destruction of your hometown.” The pain of that idea was clearly evident in Oliver’s voice. “Ra’s wanted me to release a viral bioweapon on Starling City, but that was apparently stolen by Nyssa, who’s allying with H.I.V.E. to attack the League.”

“Tell Oliver that the alliance is a hoax,” Eliot said. “Nyssa does have the bioweapon, but we’re going to deal with it.” When he was finished talking, Mikel relayed Eliot’s information to Oliver.

“So that’s probably why we’re all heading to Starling now,” Oliver mused. “Given that most of the League are going to Starling, it’ll probably take something like 24 hours for everyone to arrive and get ready. I assume everything’s all set up at home?”

Mikel waited until Eliot stopped talking, then said, “Eliot says that everything will be in place by the time the League is ready to do anything.” She pulled out a spare earpiece. “Eliot wants to talk to both of us about what will happen when we arrive in Starling City.”


	29. Chapter 28

“Got the abandoned warehouse, _and_ some backup for when it all goes down,” Hardison said as he hung up the phone. “Eliot, Parker, Nyssa- you guys have less than 24 hours to redecorate and get ourselves some costumes.”

“Do you want me to contact any of my people?” asked Felicity as she typed. “Digg or Ba- the Flash- if either of them helped, it would probably speed things up.”

After a few seconds of silence, Felicity stopped typing and looked up to see that everyone was staring at her. Hardison was the first person to speak. “You’re on a _first-name_ basis with _the Flash_?” he asked. “And you didn’t bother to tell me this?”

“It didn’t come up,” Felicity replied. “Is it- do you not like him?”

“I- _like_ him? If he comes here, first thing I’m doing is getting his _autograph_ ,” Hardison exclaimed, and Felicity had to hold back a laugh at the idea of Barry giving out autographs. “Seriously, call him.” 

“Okay,” Felicity said, then pulled out her phone and started typing. _Can you come to Starling City tonight? We could use your help on something._

A second later, Barry responded. _I’ll be there in an hour._

“He’s coming,” Felicity said.

“Good,” Eliot replied. “Felicity, why don’t you also get Digg to come- we could use as many hands as possible. Also, I’d feel a lot better if we had backup that we can trust, so if you know any other vigilantes who can help, you might want to contact them.”


	30. Chapter 29

“Alright, everyone, looks like we’re done,” Parker said to the four other people as they stood in front of the newly redecorated building. “Hardison, how much longer?”

“The first League airplane is gonna land in about an hour,” Hardison replied over the comms. “The trackers on Oliver and Mikel seem to be about four hours out, and they’re on the last plane. From there, it’ll probably be like one or two hours before every League member is assembled.”

“Okay. So- everyone knows what they have to do?” Parker asked, and nodded to herself after everyone answered in affirmation. “Good. We still have a few hours, so you can do- whatever you want, as long as you’re ready in time.”

With that, everyone except Parker started to leave. Once everyone else was gone, Parker sighed and started scaling the building until she was on the roof.

After a few minutes of looking out over Starling City, she called Hardison. “What’s up, babe?” Hardison asked as he picked up.

“What if this doesn’t work?” Parker asked.

“What do you _mean_ , what if this doesn’t work?” Hardison replied. “It’s good plan, it’ll work.”

“It’s just- it’s... _complex_ , and we’ve always done more simpler jobs,” Parker said. “There’s so much to juggle and put into place, and there’s so much that could go _wrong_ -”

“Nothing’s gonna go wrong, Parker,” Hardison interrupted. “Firstly, because you’re a great mastermind, and the plans you’ve come up with are all great, including this one. Secondly, because we- you and me and Eliot- are the best, and we won’t fail. Thirdly, because the people we’re working with have so much to lose if this goes wrong, they’re gonna do _everything_ to make sure nothing does, and since they’re pretty damn good, things probably won’t go wrong. And finally, because none of us are going to allow this to fail. We _got_ this, girl.”

“I know,” Parker said. “But- there’s so much to lose if this doesn’t work, and it’s a bit scary.”

“Nana said that if you think about how things are gonna fail, then you’re guaranteeing that they’ll fail,” Hardison replied. “Think about how good it’s gonna feel when Oliver takes you zip-lining across the entire city after we’ve pulled this off.”

“Thank you,” Parker replied, limiting herself to those two words because if she started to list what she was thankful for, she’d be here for hours.

“No problem,” Hardison said. “I’ll see you when this is all over.”

Parker smiled and hung up the phone. Really, she should have known better than to be worried- she just _knew_ everything was going to work out.


	31. Chapter 30

_“You deserve it. You’re Al Sahim.”_

Oliver straightened in his seat as he woke up, keeping his face as expressionless as possible despite the emotional turmoil inside him. He couldn’t afford to let things fall apart now- there were only a few hours left until this whole ordeal was over. His eyes flicked to the side to look at Mikel, who, despite her disguise, managed to catch his eye and nod slightly.

“You were asleep,” said Ra’s, who was sitting next to him.

“I was dreaming,” Oliver replied.

“Ibn Sirin once wrote that there are three types of dreams,” Ra’s said. “There are ones about truth, there are ones about desire, and there are ones about temptation. What did you dream about?”

_Felicity and I getting away from all of this_ , Oliver thought. _Driving somewhere, just the two of us, and we’re both happy. Ibn Sirin was wrong- there are also dreams about hope._

“Rebirth,” Oliver replied. “As Ra’s Al Ghul.”

Ra’s regarded him for a moment. “That is a dream that cannot be fulfilled until you have killed your rival and destroyed your hometown,” he said. “You must show no mercy to her, for she will show none to you, and afterwards, we will start preparing to destroy Starling City.”

Oliver only nodded in confirmation, his expressionless face belying the storm of emotions inside him. Part of him wanted to worry about everyone else- Felicity, Thea, Digg and Lyla and Sara, and everyone else- but he couldn’t afford to be. He probably had one of the most dangerous parts in the plan, and he needed to concentrate on pulling it off so everything would work.


	32. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you hover over the Hebrew, you'll be able to see the translation, but since it might not work for people on mobile, I'll keep the translation in the end notes.

For the second time in as many days, Mikel was grateful for the mask and hood that hid the smirk she currently had on her face. They’d reached the League’s headquarters, and as luck would have it, she’d been selected to go on patrol with another member, just in time for Eliot to join her.

She and her partner started their patrol, moving around the perimeter of the building in silence. When Hardison started talking, his voice coming through the comm in her ear, she didn’t even flinch.

“Mikel, Eliot is right around the corner from you,” he said. “He’s got everything you need.”

“Good,” Mikel replied out loud. As the other man started to turn around, Mikel punched him in the face, knocking him out cold. It was quick work to drag the body around the corner, where Eliot was waiting in a League outfit and holding a duffel bag.

“Put this on underneath your League outfit,” he said, shoving the bag towards her. Mikel opened the bag, pausing for a second when she saw the outfit, then shrugged and started to tear off her current disguise. Once she’d put the other clothes on, she quickly put the League outfit back on.

While she was getting dressed, Eliot was busy securing the unconscious League member. Once he was all trussed up, Eliot growled, “Flash- can you get this guy somewhere secure?”

“I’m on my way,” Mikel heard over the comms. Less than a minute later, there was a rush of wind and a man in a red leather suit appeared next to them.

“Mi zeh?” Mikel asked.

“Mikel, Flash. Flash, Mikel Dayan,” Eliot replied. “Mikel was in Nanda Parbat, helping Oliver. The Flash is a friend of Felicity’s. In case you can’t tell, he runs really fast, and he’s currently part of the backup.”

“Technically, it’s not just running, I can move pretty fast,” the Flash said, then visibly gulped at the expression on Eliot’s face. “But neither of you needed to know that. I’ll just- leave,” he said, and in a blur of gold lightning, both he and the League member were gone.

“Interesting choice of ally,” Mikel said.

“Hardison insisted,” Eliot replied shortly. “Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mi zeh?" is Hebrew for "Who is he?"


	33. Chapter 32

Nyssa walked into the seemingly empty room, scanning it for threats and obstacles and escape routes and exits as she walked. Once she’d completed her survey, she sat down in one of the chairs at the far end.

“Hello, Parker,” she said.

“Hi,” Parker replied, her voice coming in through the comm in Nyssa’s right ear, and simultaneously floating down from the ceiling into Nyssa’s left ear.

“Do you have the tracker?” Nyssa asked.

“Yep,” Parker replied. “And you have the vial?”

“Yes, and it’s hidden in a secure location,” Nyssa said. They both lapsed into silence for a few minutes. 

“Heads up, everyone- Eliot just said that everyone is assembling to head out now,” Hardison said into the comms. “Nyssa, remember that you have to act surprised when Ra’s shows up.”

“I can fool my father,” Nyssa replied coldly. “I have done it often enough.”

“A’ight, I’m just saying,” Hardison said. “Digg, backup is ready?”

“Yes, and there’s a lot more people than I expected,” Digg replied. “It seems like Waller knows how serious this all is. I’ve also distributed comms to- the Flash, Black Canary, and the ATOM.” His voice held a faint tone of derision on the last three words. “We’re just waiting to get the signal to move in.”

“Okay. Eliot, Mikel, you guys in position?” Hardison asked. After hearing their quiet affirmatives, he said, “Good luck, everyone.”


	34. Chapter 33

_They really did a good job on the building_ , Oliver thought as he walked up to the entrance, slightly behind and to the right of Ra’s. There was no way for anyone to know that this building was actually an abandoned ARGUS warehouse.

A League member walked up to meet them. “My lord, no one has entered or exited the building since Nyssa went in,” he said.

Ra’s was silent for a few seconds, considering his options, then turned to Oliver. “What do you recommend happen, Al Sahim?” he asked.

Oliver pretended to think. “I will go in with you and this squad,” he replied. “Leave everyone else outside, in case there is an attack.”

“Very well,” Ra’s said after a slight pause, then barked out some commands in Arabic. When he was done talking, Oliver started to walk towards the building. 

Finding Nyssa was easy- Oliver did know roughly where she would be- but he still made a show of actually searching for her. Regardless, it took less than five minutes to find the room she was in. 

Despite knowing that Parker was hiding somewhere on the shadow-covered ceiling, Oliver couldn't actually see her. Rather than give himself away, her turned his attention to Nyssa, who was standing on the opposite end of the room, wearing her signature flowing League garments. 

Oliver sensed more than saw Ra's and the rest of the group enter the room. He heard the sounds of bows being nocked, and a quick glance sideways showed him that all of the arrows were pointed at Nyssa. 

For a brief second, Oliver contemplated saying that Nyssa had failed the League. But no- he couldn't blow his cover like that. Instead, he called, "Nyssa, surrender yourself to the League to face justice for your betrayal."

"I would rather die," she hissed back. 

Rather than reply, Oliver quickly nocked and fired an arrow at her, which she deflected with her sword. In quick succession, Oliver fired three more arrows, all of which she deflected. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Oliver saw one of the League members draw his bow back even further and yelled "Hold!" After a slight pause, he continued, "She is mine to kill, and mine alone. Put your weapons down." To his gratification, everyone put their bows down. 

In the silence, Nyssa laughed. "You say you are here to kill me," she said. "Yet here I stand, alive and unharmed. So come, _Al Sahim_ \- try to kill me."


	35. Chapter 34

“And that’s it- no it’s not,” Palmer said. “Two more 10-people squads on the first and third floors of the opposite building.”

“Okay,” said Digg, looking at the various squad leaders and vigilantes assembled. “Palmer, you take the top floor, and Gray and Sykes, your squads get the first floor. Is that it?”

“Um...yep!” Palmer replied.

“Good,” Digg said. “Everyone, attack the group you’ve been assigned to, and no others- the Flash will try to round up strays, and if that fails, me and my snipers will take care of them. Remember, their outfits might look ridiculous, but the plating over their chest and back is fairly bulletproof, so if you’re using guns, aim for someplace vulnerable. Got it?” Once everyone had voiced their affirmation, Digg said, “Alright. Let’s move out, people.”

_Sometimes, ARGUS’s paranoia was a really nice thing_ , Digg thought. Specifically, the kind of paranoia that had led to the installment of tunnels that served as escape routes from any ARGUS facility, and that surfaced pretty far out, which made it really easy to sneak in literally right under the League’s noses.

Thanks to Palmer’s suit, which came equipped with x-ray vision, they’d been able to map out exactly where the remainder of the League had positioned themselves in preparation for an attack. It was a good idea- their positions were perfect for an ambush for people using the street- but any sense of fairness had fled when Digg had had to look at Thea Queen, lying on the verge of death in a hospital bed.

It took a few minutes for everyone to get into position. Once everyone had called in, Digg said, “Keep this as quiet as you can. The building Ra’s is in should be pretty soundproofed, but it never hurts to be as stealthy as possible.” He took a breath. “On my mark- 3, 2, 1.”


	36. Chapter 35

Oliver turned to look at Ra’s, who had come to stand behind him, and Ra’s inclined his head ever so slightly. Oliver took that as his cue to charge at Nyssa, drawing his sword as she swung hers at him.

The room rang with the sound of clashing metal as Oliver and Nyssa fought. Even though it was supposed to be a facade, Oliver couldn’t help but feel that Nyssa was actually trying to fight him. If he hadn’t undergone the intensive training in Nanda Parbat, there was every chance Nyssa would have defeated him.

As they fought, voices started coming over the comms in their ears. Digg had marshaled everyone, getting reconnaissance from Ray Palmer and assigning people- Barry, Laurel, and Ray, as well as the ARGUS squad leaders Waller had loaned them- various groups of League soldiers to fight. Oliver had barely started fighting Nyssa before Digg was giving the signal to go.

“Oliver, Nyssa, time to wrap things up,” Digg said a few minutes later. “The situation outside is contained.”

Oliver could hear Nyssa let out a slight sigh, but in accordance with their plan, allowed herself to get disarmed by Oliver. Oliver moved as if to cut her head off.

“Wait!” Ra’s called, and Oliver stilled his blade centimeters from Nyssa’s neck. Oliver saw Ra’s stalk towards them out of the corner of his eye, and made sure to keep his face emotionless. Just a few more minutes to go…

Ra’s came over to Nyssa, not stopping until he was inches away from her. They stared at each other for a few seconds- her gaze full of anger, his gaze unreadable- then, in one swift motion, yanked a dagger from her waist.

For a few seconds, he studied the blade, then twisted off the handle to reveal a glass vial with a clear liquid inside it. “You thought yourself clever, using this weapon as your hiding place?” he asked.

“I did,” Nyssa replied.

“You always did take more after your mother,” Ra’s said. “Beautiful, but not half as clever as you think you are. But perhaps…”

Ra’s was silent for so long that Oliver almost started to shift in an effort to alleviate the growing tension, but just before he could do so, Ra’s spoke again. “Like your mother, you shall become Bride to the Demon. You shall marry Al Sahim and bear his children, to merge his and our bloodline.”


	37. Chapter 36

The whole room was silent a few seconds after Ra's statement. Over the comm, Oliver could hear Parker mutter, “Oliver marry Nyssa? Yeah, _that’ll_ happen- right after Hardison dies,” and had to concentrate on not smiling.

“I would rather die than wed him,” Nyssa spat out, her body trembling with rage.

“Your desires stopped mattering the moment you decided to betray the League,” Ra’s retorted. “You _will_ marry him.”

“No she won’t,” Oliver said, moving his sword away from Nyssa’s neck.

“You were delivered by the prophecy,” Ra’s replied loudly. “You are Waraith Al Ghul, your name is Al Sahim, and you will wed my daughter!”

_You deserve it. You’re Al Sahim._

“My name is Oliver Queen!” Oliver yelled, and jumped away from Ra’s and Nyssa as he tossed his sword to Nyssa. 

Time seemed to slow down as Oliver turned to see several arrows heading towards him. With a burst of speed, Oliver rolled forward onto the ground, getting below the arrows and nocking his own bow and firing as he stood up. As he watched, Eliot and Mikel, who were standing closest to the door, ripped their hoods and masks off and started attacking the other League members. Oliver charged towards them, firing as he went.

The fight- if you could even call it that- was over before it could even have a chance to be fun. Thanks to his years of surviving, and weeks of training in Nanda Parbat, Oliver was hardly a slouch when it came to combat, but Eliot and Mikel were in a league of their own, slicing through the other soldiers like lightsabers. No wonder Eliot was contemptuous of the League.

As soon as the fight was done, Oliver turned back to watch Nyssa fight her father, and felt thankful that he didn’t have to fight Ra’s. If he was in Nyssa’s place, he would have probably fared as well as the League members that Eliot and Mikel had just defeated. 

Nyssa, however, was barely holding her own, and as Oliver watched, Ra’s disarmed her, sending her sword flying out of her hand. As he moved the sword to her throat, Nyssa stepped back, smirking.

“Now!” Nyssa called, and Oliver fired an arrow at Ra’s- which he deflected- as Parker dropped down from the ceiling. Quicker than Ra’s could turn back around, Parker grabbed Nyssa and disappeared back up into the shadows on the roof.

For the first time since Oliver had laid eyes on Ra’s, he lost control, charging at Oliver with a roar. Oliver could barely hold his own against the onslaught of blows, the force of some of them actually making him stumble.

He could tell that Eliot and Mikel wanted to help, but per the plan, they stayed back. _Let Ra’s think it was for some other reason_ , Oliver thought. Ra's couldn't know the full extent of the plan- not yet.

In a move so fast Oliver could barely see it, Ra’s somehow disarmed Oliver and turned him around, pressing his sword against his throat. “I gave you a multitude to command,” he hissed. “I gave you my sacred mission!”

“I already _have_ a mission,” Oliver growled.

“Saving your city,” Ra’s replied derisively. “I will make you watch as I lay waste to your beloved Starling City, but first your companions must die.” He turned to look, and Oliver could feel Ra’s breath hitch as he looked at Eliot and Mikel. “Eliot Spencer - and Mikel Dayan. League armor looks good on you.”

“I think it’s quite uncomfortable,” Eliot replied.

“Then it is unfortunate that you will die wearing it,” Ra’s retorted, holding up the glass vial with his free hand. He dropped it on the ground, then quickly moved himself and Oliver towards the doors. As he reached the doors, he said, “I will not pray for your souls,” before dragging Oliver through the doors and sealing them.

“Come, _Oliver_ ,” Ra’s said cruelly. “We still have yet to see your city burn.”


	38. Chapter 37

From the security feed that she and Hardison had hacked, Felicity watched in trepidation as Ra’s dropped the vial and dragged Oliver out of the room. Once Ra’s sealed the door, Felicity said into her comm, “Digg, Ra’s just exited the room, with Oliver.”

“The vial?” Digg asked.

“Dropped it and sealed the room with Parker, Nyssa, Eliot, and Mikel in it,” Felicity replied. 

* * *

 

“So- let’s go steal a H.I.V.E,” Parker said. “Nyssa, let’s see the vial.”

Nyssa pulled a dagger out of her belt, and after looking around for a few seconds, pulled off the handle to reveal a glass vial with a clear liquid inside it. As soon as he saw it, Hardison scooted back, his eyes going wide.

Nyssa snorted a bit at Hardison’s obvious show of fear, but Eliot went over and cupped his face. “Hey, focus,” he said. “Focus on me. Breathe in, breathe out. Yeah, that’s it. In and out, nice and easy.”

After a minute or so, Hardison calmed down. “Thank you,” he breathed out, then leaned over to kiss Eliot. “Okay, focus, I’m focused,” he said when he broke away.

“Okay, so obviously we can’t have Ra’s getting his hands on this,” Parker said. “We need a decoy. I’ll go get an identical bottle, and we can just put some water in there.”

“Um, wouldn’t he realize it’s just water when he goes to use it?” Felicity asked.

“Not if he is enraged enough,” Nyssa replied, a smile growing on her face. “He tries to hide it, but I know the price of his longevity - bouts of almost uncontrollable bloodlust. Induce one, and there is even a chance that he would throw away the chance to use the bioweapon on this city in favor of attacking with an army.”

“So we induce that,” Parker replied. “Who would be best suited to deal with him in a situation like that?”

“In this room, Eliot and I,” Nyssa replied. “Possibly Oliver, as he is being trained by my father.”

“Mikel too,” Eliot said. “Remember that thing I told you about, where she killed a guy with a mop? It was a League guy. She’d be able to handle him. Also, I can guarantee you, seeing both of us would probably piss him off.”

“So we get him alone in a room with you two, Oliver, and Mikel,” Parker said. “And the vial, but with water.”

“There’s still the army to contend with,” Digg said. “And we have to isolate Ra’s somewhere.”

“Do you think Lyla could help with that?” Felicity asked. “ARGUS is supposed to deal with this stuff. And - I’m not saying this lightly - but maybe we could talk to Amanda Waller, maybe convince her to help without using a drone strike.”

“It could work,” Digg said. “Parker? It’s your call.”

Parker smiled. “I think I have the _perfect_ plan.” 

* * *

 

“Parker, Nyssa, you should both get out now- Nyssa, get back here, and Parker, you’re needed by the entrance. Eliot, Mikel, time to change,” Felicity continued.

“Thank God,” Eliot muttered as he took off the rest of his League armor to reveal a suit with an ARGUS badge. Mikel finished taking off her League outfit at the same time, revealing similar clothes. As they went to change their shoes, one of the windows near the top of the opposite side of the room shattered, and there was a glimpse of two women exiting through it.

“Okay, Hardison, do your thing,” Eliot said once he and Mikel were suitably dressed, and Felicity saw Hardison grin as he started typing.

“I’ll corrupt the video if you take care of the video alterations,” Felicity offered to Hardison. “You were always better at those than I was.”

“Can’t deny that,” Hardison replied. “Age of the geek, baby.”

“Age of the geek,” Felicity muttered back. God, it was good to hang out with Hardison again after all these years.


	39. Chapter 38

As Ra’s dragged him away, Oliver’s attention was split between his situation and the voices in his earpiece. He hadn’t been able to suppress a slight flinch when Ra’s dropped the vial - which no doubt helped seal the con - but hearing everyone’s voices as they got ready for the final part of the plan was a huge relief.

He’d actually been a bit skeptical when he’d heard that the whole plan was the equivalent of poking a bear with a stick, if the bear was the head of the League of Assassins. He’d never seen Ra’s lose control, and when he’d learned that he would have to actually fight Ra’s, he’d nearly given up. Sure, Ra’s had trained him, but Ra’s had also been alive during the 1800’s, and as such would have had a lot more experience than Oliver.

Still, the plan had somehow worked, and Oliver could barely keep a smirk off his face as Ra’s forced him through the ARGUS building. _He still has no idea how deep this goes_ , Oliver thought. _And...now he does._

Because they had just burst through the front doors of the building, only to be faced by a veritable army of ARGUS agents with their guns trained on them, with Amanda Waller standing front and center.

“Well, well, this _is_ nice,” she said silkily. “Ra’s al Ghul, showing up to turn himself in.”

Ra’s actually spluttered at this statement, and Oliver couldn’t hold back a snort of amusement before the blade against his throat dug in a little bit harder. “I am doing  _no such thing_!” he hissed.

“Well, what else could you be doing? Not only did you plan on destroying this city, you attempted to murder two ARGUS agents,” Waller replied. “You even attempted to murder some of your own cult members.”

“What are you talking about?” Ra’s asked.

“Don’t try to bluff me,” Waller said. “There is video footage _right here_ of you and your group attacking two ARGUS agents and taking them hostage as an incentive to have Mr. Queen attack your own daughter, then you trying to kill them with a bioweapon when you left the room with Mr. Queen!” As she was speaking, she pulled out a tablet which did, in fact, show a security feed of the events she described taking place.

“In fact, you can ask them right now,” Waller continued, as Eliot and Mikel walked out of the building. “Agent Sladen, Agent Baker, is this the man who attacked you?”

“It is,” Eliot said as he and Mikel walked around to face Ra’s and Oliver.

“They’re not ARGUS agents!” Ra’s exploded. “He’s Eliot Spencer, and she’s Mikel Dayan! They’re part of some- some conspiracy! It’s a plot!”

“A plot?” Parker asked as she rounded the corner, wearing an ARGUS uniform. “Please. Next you’ll be saying I’m in on it. Perimeter is secure,” she said to Waller. “No sign of the woman who escaped.”

“Thank you, Agent Smith,” Waller said.

“BUT SHE _IS_ PART OF THE PLOT!” Ra’s bellowed. “THEY’RE ALL IN ON IT!”

“Flash? Any time now,” Oliver muttered.

A few seconds later, there was a blur of red and gold, and Oliver found himself several feet away from Ra’s, who was lying unconscious on the ground. Barry was nowhere to be seen.

“Someone restrain him,” Waller snapped, and several ARGUS agents, as well as Parker, rushed to do so. As he was bundled off, Waller approached Oliver.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” she said. “We’ve been trying to find a way to deal with Ra’s for years.”

“I just did what needed to be done,” Oliver replied. “Also, I would advise against putting him on Lian Yu. It wouldn’t be hard for him to escape.”

“Lian Yu isn’t the only supermax we have, Mr. Queen,” Amanda said smoothly. “As it happens, there’s a prison especially designed for him.”

Oliver was about to reply, but Parker came over. “I need to talk with Ol- Mr. Queen,” she said. “About - what happened. And stuff.”

Waller quirked an eyebrow, but allowed Oliver to walk off with Parker. “What is it, Parker?” Oliver asked once they were out of earshot.

“Can you take me zip-lining across the city?” Parker asked. “Because I was kind of freaking out earlier, and Hardison said that I shouldn’t concentrate on how this plan could fail and that I should think about how good it would feel if you took me zip-lining across the city, and now that it’s over and didn’t fail, I really want to-”

“I promise I will take you zip-lining across the city,” Oliver said. “But first, we need to have a meeting with everyone.”


	40. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this fic is complete now, but it's not quite the end. I do have a few more one-shots set as epilogues to this story coming up.

“Your definition of a “safe house” is _Malcolm Merlyn’s abandoned mansion_?” Oliver practically yelled as he stormed into the room, with Eliot, Parker, Mikel, Digg, and Barry following.

“Okay firstly- I do _not_ appreciate your tone,” Hardison said. “This place is ideal - no one around for miles, lots of rooms, easily defendable, and we kind of get to piss off Malcolm Merlyn all in one blow. Besides, it’s not like I haven’t done this before.”

“It’s true,” Parker said, turning her back to everyone in the room as she pulled off her shirt. “After Sterling made us blow up our first office, Hardison decided to “lay low” in MC Hammer’s abandoned mansion.”

“Besides, it won’t matter, because we’ll be going soon anyway,” Eliot said. “We’ve been away from the brewpub for too long, and according to Amy, it hasn’t been doing as well.”

“But not before Oliver takes me zip-lining,” Parker said. “We can’t leave before that.”

“Neither can I,” Oliver said, and everyone in the room turned to look at him, but his eyes were only on Felicity.

“While I was - away,” Oliver continued. “I had time to do some thinking, and what I realized was that, after eight years of pain and loss and suffering and fighting, I’m not - it’s not healthy for me, staying here and putting on the hood. Besides, Ra’s did take that away from me.”

He walked over to Felicity. “I told you I couldn’t be the Arrow and be with you, and Felicity - it’s not even that I _can’t_ be the Arrow anymore, I _want_ to be with you. Will you - will you come away with me?”

Felicity nodded, and Oliver felt a grin stretch over his face. He honestly couldn’t remember a time that he’d felt so happy.

“What about the city?” Digg asked.

“It’s got you,” Oliver replied. “And Laurel, and - Ray. There’s no shortage of heroes in Starling City, which is why I can go.” He turned to Barry. “Speaking of heroes - you were beyond helpful. If you ever need my help, or Felicity’s help, just call.”

“Sure thing,” Barry said.

“Wait, don’t go yet,” Hardison said when Barry seemed like he was about to leave. “I, um, well… listen, can I get your autograph? I’m a huge fan of yours, and I would really appreciate it.”

“Um...sure,” Barry replied, then after a blur of motion, handed a signed piece of paper to Hardison. “I gotta go now,” he said, then took off in a rush of wind.

“I will never, ever, _ever_ get used to that,” Digg complained. “And on that note, I have a wife and daughter I need to get home to.” He quickly turned and left.

“I guess if we’re going away, I’m gonna go home and start packing,” Felicity said. “And probably call my mom.” She leaned up to press a kiss to Oliver’s cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll make arrangements for our zip-lining,” Oliver said to Parker. “I’ll see you later.” He started to walk away, but before he’d left the room, he heard Hardison ask, “Wait- who’s Barry Allen?”

Oliver sighed. Barry still had a lot to learn, and he needed to go make sure his mother’s engagement ring was still in the vault.


End file.
